Mining safety witness Tracy Stumbo testified in the criminal case against former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship. The retired Kentucky state mine safety investigator described coal mining safety practices that prevent mine explosions, including proper ventilation and cleanup of coal dust. The April 2010 Upper Big Branch disaster killed 29 workers and Blankenship is facing felony charges including violating mine safety standards and covering up hazards to miners. Miner Stanley Stewart described the mine conditions: “The company wanted you to mine whether you had insufficient air or good air. “(There was) pressure to load coal at any cost.”

Environmental assessment expert witnesses spoke before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board’s hearing in Crawford, NE, regarding the Crow Butte Uranium mine. The board is a quasi-independent arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At issue is the ten year renewal of the operating license for the mine in Dawes County. Testimony included environmental assessment of water safety as well as the evaluation, protection and access to cultural and historic resources at the mine.

An enormous drill began preliminary work Monday at the San Jose Mine in Chile to carve a half-mile chimney through solid rock to free the 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine, their ordeal now having equaled the longest known survival in an underground disaster. The 31-ton drill bored 50 feet into the rock, the first step in the weeklong digging of a “pilot hole” to guide the way for the rescue. Later the drill will be outfitted with larger bits to expand the hole and pull the men through — a process that could take four months.